The Top Six Architects of All Time (Part Three)
In this third installment of our blog celebrating famous architects throughout history, we are going to continue discussing the most influential male and female architects with our final two contestants. Who will be featured this week? You'll have to read on to find out!
Welcome back to our blog series discussing six of the most influential architects of all time. In this installment, we are going to be discussing and talking about one of the most famous modern architects who has continued to push the boundaries of the world of architecture and creativity while the modern world raced up around them to become what we know as our daily life today. While huge and powerful architectural firms exist today and the world of architecture continues to rapidly change and evolve every day, these six individuals will continue to stand out through history. We hope you have continued to enjoy this blog series, and have loved learning more about these individuals just as much as we have loved writing about them. We hope these blogs have inspired you to learn more about the industry and possibly inspire you to find your own list of exciting and influential architects! Please feel free, after you read this third installment, to share your inspirations, those who push you to be better, and those who have inspired your style of creativity in the comments below! Thank you for continuing to come along with us on this journey, sit back and enjoy part three of this blog celebrating architect Dame Zaha Hadid!
Zaha Hadid (October 31, 1950 - March 31, 2016)
The amazingly talented and gifted Iraqui-born British architect stands strong on the shoulders of the two other women we've talked about in this blog series. While they were famous because they were two of the first acknowledged female architects ever, Hadid has been one of the most successful female artists in history, according to The Women In Construction Summit. While Lady Wilbraham and Sophia Bennett did get to see some of their designs actualized, Hadid did not have to hide as they did and was much more financially successful from her work than her predecessors. What they did have in common were the challenges they faced within the industry. While Hadid worked in a much more modern climate than Wilbraham and Bennett, she still had to compete, fight through, and prove her worth in an industry that was still very male-dominated. She continued her push of excellence and truly made huge steps for the world of architecture and for women in the industry. We are so thankful for the barriers she broke, the designs she gave us, and the sheer power and force she brought to the industry.
Hadid received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. She continued her education and traveled to London in 1972 to study at the Architectural Association. According to Brittanica, this was the center of progressive architecture through the 70s and helped develop and create Hadid's architectural style. In 1979, she established her own firm in London, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). What truly made her stand out against the rest and what defined her style was that she used some of the harshest materials to create some of the most free-flowing, soft, and musical structures that seemed to hold impossible movement. She was able to take concrete, steel, and glass and turn what would seem impossible into the possible.
Her international recognition came in 1983 with her design for The Peak, a leisure and recreational center in Hong-Kong that was an award-winning design. The design was full of challenging movement that was characterized by a sense of "fragmentation, instability, and movement" according to Britannica. Along with her international recognition with this design, it also solidified her as one of the"deconstructivist" architects of that time. The Peak was never built, along with many of the designs she created through the 80s and early 90s. This was mostly because they were too grand and difficult to build. Many of her designs, due to her over the top and difficult design style, were never built. Regardless of this challenge, these designs became incredibly famous instead as prints that traveled across the country in art shows.
Her first actualized major project that did come to life was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany that finished construction in 1993. Once this project was completed, the world was Hadid's oyster and she started an incredible nonstop journey of building some of her most famous builds including the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, the Generali Tower in Milan, the London Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympics, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, The Phaeo Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany and the Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio that is the very first U.S museum designed by a woman. These were just some of her incredible feats and designs, and she was well awarded and acclaimed for each of them.
In 2004, Hadid was the very first woman to win the Pritzker Prize and in 2016 she was the first woman to win the RIBA Gold Medal. She also won the Sterling Prize in 2010 and 2011, the Digital Museum Design Of The Year Award in 2014, the Japan Art Association's Praemium Imperiale prize for Architecture in 2009, and many others. While she worked, designed, and toured she was also a teacher. She taught architecture at Yale University, The University of Chicago, Harvard University, and her Alma Mater, the Architectural Association. While she was doing all of this, she still had time to design furniture, spend time as an interior designer for homes and restaurants, built one private home worth $140 Million near Moscow, and designed sets for Operas and Stage performances. The most notable of these designs was her design for a production of Mozart's Cos fan Tutte for the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2014, according to Brittanica.
Like many shooting stars and incredible artists of our time, Hadid passed away much too young and very suddenly. She was being treated for bronchitis in Florida and died suddenly from a heart attack in 2016. Her fortune was said to have been 67 Million Pounds at the time of her death. She left behind her firm and many unfinished projects, 36 to be exact, including the design for the 2022 World Cup. Her business partner, Patrik Schumacher took over the firm, guaranteeing that each of the 36 unfinished projects would be completed, more projects would be sought after, and that Hadid's firm would continue to prosper in her memory.
The world lost a true visionary and powerful woman when Hadid passed, but in the wake of this sadness, she left behind a world where other women could continue her great work, and continue to go above and beyond what she did. Do you have a favorite building of Hadid's? Have you been lucky enough to visit the few buildings she designed here in the United States? If not, we hope that you get to someday soon. Since this is the last part of this blog series, we wanted to make sure that our architects get the credit, time, and remembrance that they are due. So, we are going to be officially finishing up this series in our next blog, ending with architect I.M. Pei, stay tuned!
Are you looking to begin building your dream home here in the Lowcountry? Have you found a historical gem that you want to transform into your perfect office space or home? We can help you with that, and we look forward to speaking with you about these projects very soon! Until next time, stay excited and inspired for whatever wonderful projects might be heading your way!